2...c6 will probably turn into a Semi-Slav but theres a lot of theory... I think 2...d5 is th way to go. At least there play is concrete and easier to understand. 2...c5 is an English and that leads to a lot of complicated manoeuvres. There's also a gambit after 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e5 Ng8 6.d4 that you can run into by accident...

oh wait, nevermind, i was thinking about e4 e6 Nf3 c6 (as in another thread posted). i really should double check my postings.

against 2 c4 c6 is definitely fine, yeah. it may or may not turn into some kind of semislav, but a) white can't play a lot of critical lines in this move order and b) don't expect your opponent to be booked up in the theory anyway. after all, he plays 1 e4 and has played 2 c4!

After Qb3 why not just decline with d4? I'm pretty sure that Qb3 thing isn't really a line.

1.e4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 and now according to ChessBase's online DB, 4.exd5 is the most-played, then 4.Qb3, and then a bunch of ineffective moves none of which score over 50% for White.

4.Qb3 aims to set up early pressure on the b3-g8 diagonal at the cost of giving up e4. Your suggestion 4...d4 5.Bc4 allows White to acheive this pressure without giving up a pawn. Perhaps that's why it has never been played.

As I suspected, 4...dxe4 and 4...Nf6 are the number one and number two moves. Having glanced at a couple of games it seems 4...dxe4 5.Bc4 Qd7 is quite OK for Black. The line is a little awkward if Black has never seen it before but objectively is not that good.

If White wanted to play the Monte Carlo, why would he choose 2.c4 and not 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4 ?

2.c4 offers Black several interesting choices. (2..c5!? 2..e5!? 2..b6!?) Whereas after 2.d4 Black is almost certainly going to play 2...d5 and now White can take on d5 and play c4 which is very forcing.

So I think the Monte Carlo discussion is a little off topic if the OP is interested in 2.c4 as an "anti-French"

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